


Missing The Shadows

by orphan_account



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: M/M, Post-Ending, Thiefshipping, Timeskip, probably going to go to egypt, yami resurrection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-05-29
Packaged: 2018-03-14 13:54:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3413153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A year after the end of the original Yugioh series, what happens when Bakura and Yuugi start to miss their Yami selves?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Changes of Heart

Bakura Ryo was always surprised by how different the human face could look in sunlight.  From the scattered and often blurred memories of when his Yami had possessed him, he knew that the spirit had easily fooled Yuugi and his friends into believing that there was nothing unusual about Bakura, but he also knew that he looked different when his Yami was in control.  His eyes, he thought, changed.  The sheer power of his Yami even changed his hair, but still no one could tell the difference between Bakura Ryo and his darker half.  Not even the only other person Ryo knew who should be able to tell better than anyone.

You would think they would notice the difference between someone as calm, as polite and shy as Ryo and his murderous, arrogant half, and yet they never could. 

It confused him more than he liked to admit, actually- the two were so different!  How could it possibly be that they couldn’t notice that?  Even now, after his Yami was long since sealed, if he surprised them they still looked at him as though they weren’t sure who he was.  In a year, he supposed he’d changed, maybe even become a bit more like his Yami (even if he didn’t like to admit it)- he was more confident now, his speech was a bit more relaxed- although still more polite than most.  Even still, Ryo was Ryo, and it hurt that they forgot.

Really, a lot of things hurt, lately.  Even if he and his Yami had never been close the way Yuugi and the Pharaoh were, the thief king had always been _there_.  He’d teased him, had looked after him more times than Ryo wanted to think about even.  They’d had, if not friendship, an uneasy sort of understanding.  It was the closest he’d ever had to friendship until he’d met Yuugi and the others at Domino High, and even now he still wondered if he’d been closer to the hated thief than he was now with his ‘friends’.  Sometimes, he still dreamed about his dark half, he missed his teasing, the confidence he’d felt at times when the two of them had a common goal.  He missed having someone _there_ , always.

\----

_Even now, even after a year he still missed him._

\----

Yuugi couldn’t help but miss what things had been like, a year ago.  It was harder than he had thought, to be alone.  Certainly, he had his grandfather and the game shop, and his friends, but he was half of a whole.  What does it mean, when the light starts to miss the dark?  No person is complete without their dark spaces, their shadows and twisted alleys.  Yuugi had changed and adapted, he’d picked up some of the Pharaoh’s mannerisms without realizing it until Bakura, of all people, remarked on it.  His speech was a bit louder, a bit more confident.  Still, Yuugi wasn’t Yami, and he wasn’t complete anymore either. 

Even Anzu, who believed in friendship more than anyone he knew, didn’t seem to notice the changes he’d felt in himself.  Yuugi noticed Bakura drifting in class, only to find himself doing the same thing.  The two of them, he thought, were both falling apart without their Yamis.

Maybe that was why he was in the basement of the game shop, pouring over books in ancient Egyptian that, strangely, he could read (if slowly and painfully).  Maybe that longing was what had fuelled him to check in books that, by rights, someone like him had no business looking at.

\----

Ryo spent more time at the museum, now.  His father was never around, and it was mostly left up to him, so no one really thought it was strange.  If anything, the staff seemed to think it was a sign that he was becoming more mature, more ready to take over from his father.  In truth, he was getting four hours sleep, on a good day and translating tablets and artefacts in a desperate attempt to find what he needed. 

Sadly, it seemed like there was no historical precedent for trying to bring back someone who had once fused part of his soul with an ancient force of evil (namely, Zorc Necrophades). 

Eventually, both Yuugi and Bakura, neither telling the other of their true intentions, gave up on translations and ancient rituals, and both came to the same conclusion- in order to resurrect their other halves, something that even the ancient Egyptians had never tried would be needed.  Luckily, between Yuugi’s ridiculous talent with puzzles and Bakura’s ability with symbolism, ritual and generally better knowledge of magic thanks to his Yami’s previous activities and the memories that had now mostly returned, they would have been able to come up with the necessary ritual. 

Unfortunately, no way in hell was Bakura willing to admit that he wanted his old tenant any place other than six feet under.  While Yuugi had less of a problem with admitting he missed the Pharaoh, he still didn’t _really_ trust Bakura, and in his mind, there was no way that Bakura would be interested in summoning the spirits of the dead anyway.  In that way, the two continued on their own and eventually, came up with their own versions of the necessary ritual.

\----

Yuugi was the first to come up with something functional.  Luckily, he had all the necessary millennium items- the puzzle, which had originally housed Atem’s spirit, the rod, to compel his spirit to return, the key, to open the path into the puzzle, and the ring, to find what was lost (or at least, that was what he’d come up with).

He’d decided to try the ritual on the very night he’d thought of it, which was a month after he’d made the decision to try to come up with his own ritual.  Unfortunately, when he checked the storage room he’d been keeping all of the millennium items in, he found that they were all missing. 

Ryo had grown more like his Yami than many people realized- or wanted to realize.  He hadn’t noticed the compulsion until three weeks after his Yami’s death, he found a pack of gum in his pocket that he absolutely had not paid for.  From then on, some candy, a few shirts, a particularly fancy pen- it turned out that Ryo had inherited the original Bakura’s thieving skills and nature.  He brushed it off as a leftover side effect of having the thief king’s memories, and their apparent shared blood.  After he’d decided to try making his own ritual- a week before Yuugi had come to the same conclusion; he’d thought it prudent to ensure that he had possession over the millennium items like his ancient predecessor once had. 

The game shop had almost no security _anyway_ , it was almost like Yuugi wanted the items to get stolen.  Really, picking the lock was something almost anyone could have accomplished, and he had always had a quiet presence- it seemed natural to move in such a way to be absolutely silent.  Trying the first door that compelled him, he’d found the items ‘hidden’ in a cardboard box.  If he had even considered asking Yuugi for help, that would have killed any thoughts on the matter- the ring that had been his sole tormentor and his sole comfort for years, gathering dust in a box?  The puzzle, he noted sardonically, was not included with the rest of the items. 

Luckily, Ryo had gone through a brief assassin’s creed phase when he was ten, and had been inspired to climb the sides of buildings for approximately one month before he was caught and severely reprimanded.  It seemed that his ten year old self had learned invaluable skills, he reflected, as he found himself in the strange position of clinging to the side of the game shop.  After a rather unfortunate glimpse of Yuugi’s grandfather sleeping in the nude with the sheets strewn around his legs, Ryo found Yuugi’s room.  As he’d suspected, the puzzle was placed on Yuugi’s bedside table.  It looked like he’d actually been polishing the damned thing.  Admittedly, Ryo had polished his ring in the past as well, but it was somehow insulting that Yuugi was taking such markedly better care of the puzzle than all of the other items.

Despite his thieving talent, snatching the puzzle while already loaded down with all of the other items from Yuugi’s bedside was a bit beyond him, and Ryo absolutely did not want to get caught, lest the others think that Yami Bakura was back after all.  That thought in mind, he waited until Yuugi had left for school before sneaking into his room while Solomon was out on a stock run, only to find that Yuugi was apparently intelligent enough _not_ to leave his millennium object out in the open. After searching through his closet before finding a bloody _safe_ , Bakura began to consider giving up, only to discover that Yuugi had not changed the password from the default- 0123.  Inside, the millennium puzzle rested on a goddamn _pillow_ , and Ryo took it with absolutely no remorse, replacing it with an extremely expensive replica he’d found in a neighbouring game store.

About a month and a half after Ryo stole the items, while Yuugi was frantically searching ancient Egyptian tomes for spells that could be used to locate millennium items, Ryo began to prepare for his own ritual.

Unlike Yuugi, who had been too nervous to put all of the millennium items together for fear of accidentally summoning Zorc, Bakura had laid them all out carefully.  The ring was in the centre, and in the centre of the ring was a hand painted image of the Thief King, Bakura.  Ryo’s old RPG game building skills had come in handy on that one.  At the peak of the circle, facing towards the moon (which was at exactly half, and waxing) was the rod.  Closest to where Ryo knelt and opposite the rod, laid the scales.  In counter-clockwise order from the rod, laid the key, the eye, the scales, the necklace and finally, the puzzle.  Carefully, Ryo bit at his thumb to draw blood, which he smeared across the image of the Thief King, before marking a circle on his own forehead.  Then, as the moon shone into his room, he felt the air change, as though he were playing a shadow game.  Words and symbols appeared in his mind, and a chant slipped out of his throat as the image of the Thief King began to change, tiny details correcting themselves until the likeness was disturbingly perfect. 

Each item glowed in turn- the rod first, to compel the spirit to awaken, followed by the key, to open a path.  Next came the eye to give the spirit sight of its destination, and the scales to balance the growing power in the room.  As they equalized out, the necklace summoned the past, forcing the spirit to remember its identity, past and personality.  The puzzle was last, forcing the necessary power into the circle as the ring grew cold from the spirit being pushed inside it. 

Slowly, Ryo’s chant exhausted itself and the air of the room returned to normal.  Spent, he had barely enough energy to pull the ring out of the circle and over his head against his chest before passing out completely (rituals seemed to require either complete nudity or all natural fabric, so Ryo had found the only pair of 100% cotton pants and boxers he owned and worn those, but had been forced to go shirtless).

The next morning, Ryo woke up with numerous aches from sleeping on the ground and an imprint of the ring on his chest.  He wasn’t sure what happened from here, but thought he could feel a presence of some sort in the ring, although it was so weak he almost wondered if he was hallucinating.  Strangely, the strength of the spirit seemed to be almost pulsing in time with his heartbeat.  Deciding to ignore it to the best of his abilities, Ryo pulled his uniform on and went to school.

School was…surprisingly normal, all things considered.  Ryo noticed shadows under Yuugi’s eyes and wondered if he’d discovered the missing items, and debated whether he should return them- and if so, how.  Jonouchi and Honda were completely normal, and no one acted any different than normal.  As usual, Ryo sat with the group at lunch and made small talk while Yuugi and Jonouchi messed around with duel monsters cards and talked strategy for the upcoming grade competition.  Anzu shot him a few looks when he almost drifted off during the class after lunch (the spirit’s pulsing was strangely hypnotic) and when he went home and cleaned up the remnants of the ritual, Ryo felt more optimistic than he had in- well, in a long time.

Concentrating, he was fairly certain that the spirit’s strength had improved since the morning, which was also good.  After he did his homework as normal, Ryo Bakura slept.

\----

_“Landlord, I never expected this!  To think, how you’ve changed since I’ve left… I’m glad that you survived without me this long.”_

_"It worked… Bakura?”_

_“You know, I think I prefer Thief King, or even King of Thieves.  Just because things are different now, don’t think you can get away with disrespect towards me.”_

_“Things_ are _different.  You’re right, I have changed._ I _was the one who summoned you here, don’t forget that, ‘tenant’.”_

_“How refreshing…Tell me then, landlord, why did you summon me?  Don’t tell me you want to destroy the world, like I did?”_

_“If I wanted that, I would’ve tried to summon Zorc himself, not you.”_

_Ryo turned away from the thief king and surveyed the landscape.  Sand stretched out in every direction, and the sky was split down the centre, half night and half day.  Looking down, he saw he was wearing his normal clothes, but they were grey, completely colourless.  Bakura’s clothing, the hooded robe and loose pants he’d worn in ancient times, were the same colour._

_“I summoned you, remember?  My reasons are my own.  You never told me your plans, why should I tell you mine?”_

_Laughter ripped itself from Bakura’s teeth, echoed over the landscape as Ryo’s dream shifted and ended, and the rest of the night he spent alone._


	2. Mirror Force

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yugi experiments with witchcraft (how different can it be from the movies?) while Bakura learns about physics and Ryo is generally amused

When Yuugi woke up in the morning, he still missed the Pharaoh.  He had half-hoped, foolishly, that he wouldn’t (as he had for the past year and a month), but it seemed that some things couldn’t change.  He was still worried about the items, but he’d checked his safe and the puzzle was still there, at least.  He was certain that the others would surface soon- they had to!  Some villain had probably taken them, but they had to want them for _something_ , and once the Pharaoh was back he’d help Yuugi beat them and take the items back, right?  In the end, all the more reason to try to bring him back as soon as possible, at least in Yuugi’s mind.

Maybe, he thought, it was actually a good thing that the items had been taken- he’d woken up with a far better plan for summoning the Pharaoh.  Instead of using the items, which had once been used to summon _Zorc flipping Necrophades_ , he should use the _cards_.  The cards had never betrayed him, after all.  There was no way using them would go wrong, if he was careful.  Unfortunately, Yuugi wasn’t particularly experienced with magic of any sort, but he did think that magic had something to do with the moon (in movies, anyway).  So, if he did the ritual on the full moon, maybe it would be stronger? 

That seemed fairly reasonable, he thought. 

\----

Ryo had seen the spirit in a few dreams since the first night, but usually the thief king was too exhausted to communicate, and the dreams didn’t last long.  A week after the night he’d summoned him, he began to hear a whisper here and there, a flicker at the edge of his vision as the ring’s power slowly rose.  It took until the full moon for its power to finally stabilise and his old foe to materialize fully, next to him.  Of course, Ryo was fast asleep at the exact moment that occurred- midnight, on the full moon. 

As the spirit of the ring laid next to him on the bed and stretched, walking around the room and getting used to the feeling of being back, another summoning was already underway.

Mutou Yuugi was not well acquainted with magic, but he knew that you definitely needed candles if you were going to summon something.  It was those candles that were carefully laid out in a circle and flickering brightly as he laid down the next circle inside of them- a circle made up of all of his spellcaster cards, with Dark Magician at the top.  Within that circle, the three Egyptian god cards were spaced out, and in the very centre sat Yuugi himself, with the puzzle around his neck. 

Satisfied that the spaces were even and all was proper, Yuugi carefully brought his thumb up to his mouth and bit down on the tip, wincing at the pain as he drew blood.  Using the blood, he drew a faint circle on his bare chest and closed his eyes, trying to remember the feeling that came with shadow games.  When he opened his eyes, the edges of his room were covered by shifting blackness, and he almost allowed himself a cheer of triumph before remembering that summoning an ancient spirit was not really an appropriate occasion for victory cheers.  Fighting back that impulse, he held his arms out, as though reaching out to the darkness as instinct took over and he began to chant, picturing as clearly as he could Atem’s face, imagining the spirit entering his mind and coming back to him. 

Concentrating on his chant and the image of Atem, Yuugi’s eyes slid shut.  If he had seen the shadows twist around him, coming to brush against his thumb and the small bead of blood oozing out, one wonders if even the sight of the shadow realm claiming that small token would have stopped him.  The cards spaced around him grew hot as energy was taken out of them to fuel the ritual, and a space opened up in the shadows above Yuugi’s small form.  Something cool and grey drifted downwards, glowing like a small sun as it began to take on features of the Pharaoh in Yuugi’s mind.   
  
Briefly, Yuugi thought he felt cool hands on his shoulder even as the misty form of the Pharaoh was drawn into the centre of the circle on his chest and spread throughout his body.  Eventually, the shadow realm dissipated as Yuugi’s chant ran down and the cards ceased their warmth. 

Like Ryo before him, Yuugi passed out on the floor and slept.

\----

When Ryo woke up in the morning, although later he would refuse to admit it, he almost screamed like a little girl.  It had been a very long time since he’d last woken up to the sight of his psychotic alter-ego’s face, pressed uncomfortably close to his own.  As it was, he managed to turn the beginning of a scream into a prolonged and violent coughing fit while the thief king laughed at him until he managed to get his respiratory system back under control.

“Since _I_ summoned you back here, the least you could do is keep a _bit_ of distance, isn’t it?” Ryo demanded, still slightly twitchy and wondering what delusion had made him even consider that his ‘tenant’ would consider backing off.

“But landlord, it’s been so long… I couldn’t resist taking a better look at you!  Your face looks different…More like mine?”

Ryo conceded that a year of aging had made him look more like the spirit, but he wasn’t willing to admit it to the actual spirit.  It somehow felt like he would be losing some inane bet if he did. 

“Yes, well.  If you could- are you _sniffing me_?  God, you _are_ , why?”

“You smell different as well.  Less like…tea and dust.”

Ryo winced at that, ‘tea and dust’.  Not surprising considering that he’d stayed indoors and drunk copious amounts of tea for most of the time the spirit had known him, but it sounded somehow insulting.  Still, casual insults were normal behaviour for the spirit, and it was almost comforting.  Almost.

“Well, you still smell like sand, so I suppose not everything changes.  Regardless, I need to get ready for school, so-“

Tentatively, Ryo pressed a hand up against the spirit’s chest in an effort to push him off, only for Bakura to find himself propelled backwards and into a wall.  Choking back laughter at the ‘king of thieves’ as he huffed in annoyance and shot him a look like a kicked puppy (albeit a puppy that was plotting a vicious form of vengeance), Ryo stepped into the bathroom and began to get ready for school.

_Meanwhile_

Bakura, King of Thieves listened to the running water of the shower and wondered if his desire for vengeance would be satisfied by giving Ryo a good scare while he was showering.  Deciding that the sight of his landlord’s horrified face and subsequent mortification at being caught naked would, in fact, be very much worth it, he walked over to the wall- only to find that he could not actually pass through it as he had expected.  Frowning, he pressed harder.  The wall did not move, and neither did he.

Irritated now ( _how dare the wall defy him)_ Bakura stepped back and punched the wall with all of his considerable might.  Unfortunately, the laws of physics had not been included in Ancient Egyptian education, and Bakura found himself flying back through the air with the exact force of his punch. 

Crumpled once more against the opposing wall, Bakura sat and tried to think of a way around his current nemesis- or rather, a way _through_.  Just as he began to consider the possible mechanics of challenging the wall to a shadow game (if he gave it a deck and laid it out right, it might work), the shower shut off and he cursed his apparently terrible luck. 

Looks like vengeance would have to wait, but it wouldn’t be long before both the wall and Ryo would experience the true power of the King of Thieves.  Yes, not long at all…as soon as he worked out exactly what his limitations were.  Not like the very thought ‘limitations’ made him feel like he would break out in a cold sweat, if such a thing was possible for a spirit.

Picking himself up, Bakura walked over to the bathroom door and tried to turn the handle.  The handle did not turn.  He tried to open a window.  The window did not open.  Irritated, he tried to _break_ the window.  Newton’s laws had not changed, and neither had their effects.  Bakura found himself on the ground again, and he was truly annoyed now. 

There had better be some way for him to _at least_ possess someone, and if he was somehow unable to challenge people to shadow games-

That was better left unspoken of.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait and short chapter, wish I could say that I'll do better next time but honestly, who knows? Anyway, hope you enjoyed this and, as always, I welcome feedback!
> 
> Thanks for reading- Fierté


	3. Call of the Haunted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bakura works out the kinks of being a spirit in Domino while Ryo tries to do normal things.

Atem, ancient pharaoh of Egypt and King of Games, had been enjoying his afterlife.  A trance-like state of calm and bliss, coupled with the relaxing sensation that he was just napping on the side of the Nile, sun on his face…

Yes, the afterlife had been very pleasant indeed, so it was a rude awakening to find that no, it wasn’t the banks of the Nile that he was sleeping on, but the dusty attic of Kame Game Shop.  His back hurt, and he was _cold_.  Atem hadn’t been cold in over a year, nor had his back hurt.  It was decidedly unpleasant. 

The natural instinct- to call a slave girl to massage the pain away, and get someone to get him some food- was unfortunately banished as he remembered that Kame Game Shop did not supply massages or food (which was a terrible marketing decision, in his opinion) and he instead drug himself off of the floor.

Stretching, he glanced down, examining the cards on the ground.  He couldn’t help but wonder what had driven his former host to summon him back- had the boy’s dependence on him been that strong? 

_Yuugi, why did you summon me?  What happened?   Yuugi…?_

No answers came to him.  Strange, unless-

* * *

 

Ryo wandered out of the bathroom, shooting the spirit a confused glance- _what the hell was he doing on the ground again?_

The spirit glared at him resentfully before getting up and striding over to him, anger in his eyes.

“Oi, Landlord, what the hell setup is this?  I can’t go through walls, I can’t even open doors!”

Ryo did _not_ giggle.  Definitely not.

“How am I supposed to know?  You’re the magical spirit.” He replied.

“I would have hoped that the one who _summoned me back from the afterlife_ would have at least _some_ idea of what the mechanics of it were!  Do you at least know what you bound me to?”

“Bound you to…The ring, of course.  You thought that I would bind you to _myself_?  And run the risk of being possessed, _again_?”

The spirit’s look said that yes, he had expected that his host would give him complete access to his body.  It pissed Ryo off, and he couldn’t help but wonder _why, why had he summoned this bastard back?_

“I don’t know!  How did you do it before, anyway?” Ryo asked, holding back amusement and irritation.

The spirit’s eyebrows furrowed as he crossed his arms, making a soft _huh_ noise. 

“Maybe you should concentrate on not existing, or something?  That would make sense… Anyway, I have to go to school!  Figure it out in the next 5 minutes or I’m leaving!”

“Not existing?  What’s that supposed to mean, why don’t _you_ focus on _not existing_!” Bakura retorted, even as he tried the foolish idea, only to-

Ryo almost snorted at the sight of the spirit flailing his arms in desperation as he tried to pull himself out of the floor, which everything below his waist had slipped into. 

“Landlord!  What is this?  Get me out!”

“You should be able to get out yourself.  Anyway, I have school, so good luck!”  Ryo laughed at the scandalized expression on Bakura’s face as he grabbed his bag and ran out the door.

* * *

 

Bakura glared at the door that had slammed shut behind his landlord.  Bastard, leaving him, his _only friend_ to try to pull himself out of the floor.  It was lucky Ryo lived in an apartment, not a bungalow, Bakura didn’t even want to imagine how odd it would be if his lower half was trapped in _dirt_.  Muttering curses, he tried to remember what he was doing when he fell through in the first place.  Something like…

A hideous feeling rippled through his body as he hit the floor of the next apartment down.  Groaning, he waited for the pain and nausea to recede and his lungs to start working again before dusting himself off and standing up.  He nearly jumped out of his… not _skin_ , exactly, but something like that when music started pulsing through the flat.  Sounds that he’d never encountered, something hovering at the edge of hearing that he could feel in his chest… Ryo liked classical music, he’d never had time to explore much of modern music _before_ , and he nearly fell over as the less-than soothing sound of drum and bass ripped through the flat.  Stumbling as his ears struggled to get used to it, Bakura groaned again and half-fell through the door into the hallway, pulling his hands away from his ears only when he was certain the sound was gone.

 _Wait,_ through _the door_.

How did he do that, again?

* * *

 

Ryo had an uneventful day at school.  He shared home room with Yuugi and Kaiba (when Kaiba deigned to attend), as well as Honda, Jonouchi and Anzu, and they usually found themselves playing either a ‘friendly’ game of duel monsters or whatever game Yuugi had found in the game shop.  Today, however, Yuugi was absent from school, so they ended up sitting around and talking while Jonouchi tried to explain his genius new strategy to Honda.  Anzu was concerned about Yuugi, so she and Jonouchi decided to go check the game shop after school, while Ryo begged off, complaining of homework and a cold.  Well, looking after a bad-tempered Ancient Egyptian spirit was on the same level of homework- worse, even if Ryo thought about it, so it seemed a fair excuse. 

At the end, they went their separate ways and Ryo walked home.  He lived only a few blocks from the school, but he wanted to pick up some groceries, maybe a couple supplies for his modelling hobby.  That in mind, he walked past his apartment in a slight fog, resulting in what Bakura (who was watching from the window of his room) could only describe as a perfect target.  That thought in mind, the spirit put all his practice into action, hopping lightly out the window and landing silently on the sidewalk, sneaking behind Ryo until the two ended up in a rather seedy local grocer.  Ryo walked through the poorly stocked book/magazine/dvd/music aisle, only to let out a yell as Bakura tapped on his shoulder.

_I discovered modern music while you were gone, landlord.  Buy me some._

“What the-“

_Shut up, do you want to get us kicked out?  Like before, talk in your head!_

_As I was saying, this modern music I discovered is called…techno.  I want it._

_You can’t buy an entire genre!  Music doesn’t grow on trees,_ one _album, maximum!_

_How stingy… then, I want the one called…Immersion._

Ryo blinked.  Briefly, he checked the shelves, but no such album could be found. 

_I have to get groceries.  Pick one of these out, I can’t conjure one out of thin air!_

_Very well._

Trying to shake the eerie feeling of being spoken to inside his head, Ryo grabbed his instant noodles, milk and a bag of (admittedly limp) salad mix, before standing and trying to work out what that other thing, damn, he’s definitely out of-

_Landlord!  I’ve decided!_

And, there went Ryo’s train of thought. 

_Decided?  On what, then?_

_This album, buy it!_

Sighing, Ryo shuffled back to the CD section, only to feel what little colour he had in his face drain away.  No, there’s no way that the spirit could be pointing at-

_I’m not paying money for anything by Nickleback.  Pick another one._

The spirit glared at Ryo before closing his eyes and spinning, pointing at a new album.

_This one, then._

_Do you even know what a cherry bomb is?_

_Of course I do.  Buy it._

_You don-_

_BUY IT._

_If you’re just picking randomly, I’m not paying money for it!  I can get it for free when we get home!_

_Landlord, have you taken up thievery since I’ve left?  Well, I suppose that’s my influence-_

_It’s not_ stealing _!  Well, I mean, technically speaking I suppose it is, but I’m not wasting my money on this!  Besides, since when have you been interested in_ music _of all things?_

_…I decided that it would be good to have something to entertain me while you’re at school.  Right now I’m interested in music, I think it will help inspire me while I work out the finer details of my plan._

_Your plan.  Plan for what?_

_Never you mind._

A distinct note of irritation slipped through the mental link, along with- was Bakura _blushing_?  Ryo choked back another laugh before paying for his things, counting himself lucky that the attendant was clearly stoned and thus had not noticed his earlier scream.

Opening his door, Ryo stretched his arms back and sighed as exhaustion slipped through him.  Putting his groceries away, he grabbed some leftover chinese from a few days ago and settled on the couch, grabbing his computer and setting about downloading a wide selection of music for Bakura to listen to tomorrow.  The spirit leaned uncomfortably close over his shoulder, picking music at random while questioning him on how computers worked.  Finally, downloads and dinner finished and homework mostly-done, Ryo wandered into his room and, half-asleep already, pulled off his school tie and shirt.

_You look different, landlord._

_It’s been a long time._

_I’m tired as well, you know.  I can’t get into a soul room either._

_Guess that makes sense, since you’re not bound to me.  Go to sleep, then._

_If you insist, landlord~_

Shrugging, Ryo turned his back on the spirit and slipped on pyjamas before wandering into his bathroom to brush his teeth.  By the time he came out, the spirit was already sprawled out underneath his sheets.

_Why are you in my bed?  Get out._

_You told me to go to sleep… Where else would you like me to go?_

_The couch._

_I will not sleep on the couch._

“Some tenant you are, then.” Ryo replied, tired and annoyed.

_Well, it’s not that much different from sleeping in your soul room before…or in my soul room, which was still inside you…_

_Don’t phrase it that way!_   Ryo flushed, glaring at the oddly smug looking bastard laying in his bed.

The spirit matched his eye contact with a grin, pulling back the sheets invitingly. _I’ll find a mattress or a cot tomorrow for you.  It’s only because I’m so tired…_

Ryo was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Bakura smiled at his sleeping landlord, sleepy himself.  Something about Ryo’s hair, so like his own spread out across the pillow… Carefully, he reached out and brushed a strand back from his face before rolling over to face the wall.

_He reminds me of someone, I suppose.  Shame I can’t remember… Not that it’s important._

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is gonna be part of a series so I thought I’d put up a quick summary of how I’ll write it.  
> Firstly, yes, I am using the original Japanese names. For anyone who doesn’t know what those are, Anzu: Tea; Jonouchi: Joey and Honda: Tristan. I’m pretty sure those are the only ones 4kids changed, but I haven’t watched their version in around 9 or so years so if I missed any out there, feel free to ask me if you’re confused (or google it)  
> Secondly, when I’m writing, if Bakura Ryo and Thief King Bakura are in the same scene I’ll do my best to make it clear who’s who, but again if there is any confusion please let me know and I’ll fix it and re-upload. Seriously. Let me know.  
> That also applies to any other typos or whatever, just so you know.  
> Thirdly, there is no thirdly! Hope you enjoy the story and let me know what you think;
> 
> Sincerely- Fierté


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